Zwilling Doppelgänger
by Aery Pear
Summary: Twin Doppelgängers live in the woods away from society until enough occurrences of death happen to pique the interest of a scientist and his partner. Finding the culprit behind the sudden decrease of the towns people count proves to be a hard feat, and after finding them it proves to be harder to remember not to part from them. Not until they can find a way to undo the twins' curs
1. Preface

Air traveled unbothered in the forest glade, thick as ever. No one walked through these woods; Well, no one sane enough would go through them. The particles captured in the sunlight bounced and changed in almost delightful spasm- Charged with an energy known as magic. The inhabitants of the woods were those of human fairytales, brought to life as something that was beyond their understanding. The tales always warning to stay away from these mythical creatures: To stay out of fairy circles, to not trust a black cat, or especially to not trust a house made of candy. Humans were quite the wary sort.

At least that's what the doppelgänger thought. He lived in these woods, away from human society. He considered himself human, sure. He was born to one, and raised as one despite his… Condition. Too many deaths would occur, the magic of seeing a doppelgänger being an omen. He wasn't lonely though. Or.. at least not too terribly lonely…

"Emil, I'm heading out. Want anything?" A voice called out in the cabin near the door. Green hues glanced over to the figure. Red tousled hair, freckles, matching red eyes to the red hair.

"…T-That look doesn't suit you. Just the usual." He mumbled the first part almost as a forethought to answering the question.

"If I could pick what I looked like, I would. So would you." The other huffed. "If they don't have flour, I'm just buying biscuits. I don't understand why you want to make everything."

"Oka-ay..." Emil's shoulders sagged slightly. Of course his twin brother wouldn't understand. The other found joy in the forest. Foraging, interacting with the other residents of the woods, and even helping them build things. He often wondered if he considered himself a part of the mythical creatures despite his and his brother's human upbringing… He didn't doubt that, actually.

"Stay safe... Ratatosk." Emil simpered.

"Yeah, sure. Don't answer the door when I'm gone." And with that, the currently red-headed male left the house. The door swinging to shut behind him while stirring the sparkling air particles.


	2. Chapter 1

Moving fluidly within the crowd was never a problem. Dodging, weaving, and dancing around the figures that bustled along. Keeping keen red eyes sharp on all of the faces that were around, the people who went on about their day carelessly. Unaware of his existence. The grey cobbled streets echoed the sounds of clopping from horses, high heeled shoes, and running of children. Glazed with a golden hue from the early October sun. It was a nice day. If only the redhead would see it like that.

To Ratatosk, the local settlement town was the last place he would go to hang out. The hustle was annoying, and the loud noises were excruciatingly grating. The chatter of people mingled in with the calls of salesmen trying to sell their wares. However, the forest couldn't provide everything. Well, it could if it was only Ratatosk who lived in the forest. With his twin brother, there were other needs to satisfy. Emil loved to bake and cook. The baking was specifically troublesome though. Almost everything for cooking could come from the woods, but when it came to pastries, breads, cakes, and the like it required flour, sugar, and all of that kind of stuff. The only reason he tolerated the hobby was because he had a sweet tooth. Though he honestly thought buying the ingredients were pointless. What's the point of a local baker if not to buy from them?

He supposed his brother was just antisocial and that's why he preferred baking. Didn't want an excuse to leave the house. He sighed, running a hand through red locks. He caught his reflection on a pane of glass to a tinker shop. Emil was right, this look did not suit him at all. He scowled at the reflection before entering the store. The one thing he knew for certain Emil needed was a new oven monitor. Something practical he could understand needing. He knew all of the shops owners and their employees faces, he had to. On the days he looked like any of them, he had to avoid them like the plague unless he was in the mood to watch them die. Employees often put names to the faces he wore. It was aggravating because if they knew the face very well, they often asked him questions he could never answer.

With the thermometer in hand, he went to the counter. A cheerful hello and the obvious fake 'welcome to this store' mantra. "Oh- You're that traveler that's in town. Plan on moving to Auerheim?"

"Who knows." a reply slipped his lips easily. A traveler, huh? Hopefully they were staying at the inn today while he ran around to buy things.

They smiled, before putting the item into a bag, announcing the price, which he paid. Ratatosk handed the golden coins over. "Probably best not to, honestly." a whimsical sigh from the sales employee. "Lots of deaths and strange rumors around the deaths. They say faeries are behind it. Of course, we're super close to Neubirn Woods."

"You think the fairies want anything to do with this town?" he casually asked, humoring the random conversation. He wasn't interested. He knew the rumors. Knew what others said about his and Emil's home.

"Don't they? I mean after all the fae are mischievous folk. Even the non-fae. It's up to you though. Good luck!" they answered before ending the conversation. Finished with the transaction of business with him.

Ratatosk took the bag and left the store, instantly dumped back out onto the street to carry on. Store after store, after vender, after salesman, they all called his face a recent traveler. Some had nice things to say about the town, others had bad things. The consensus was the same no matter who was talking to him. There had been a lot of deaths as of late. Some thought it was a fae from the woods, others thought it was a serial killer on the loose. Ratatosk knew the source. The major rumor usually was of some kind of look alike appearing and killing the person in fright. While Ratatosk knew how to avoid the people he looked alike, knew every back road and side street in this town, Emil did not. Emil was clumsy, uncertain and indecisive. They were all running into Emil and dying because of the doppelgänger curse.

His hands full with bags, he took the side road off into a dirt road, following the street of dilapidated houses. They huddled near the outskirts of the forest where the poor lived. The children played with wood for dolls, dirt for toys, and twigs for trinkets. Nothing like what the inner town kids played with, such as porcelain dolls, round tops, and intricate puzzles. They didn't take notice to him as he watched them play, carrying the bags into the woods. The forest silence swallowing away the hollers and voices of children. Left with only birds, rodents and the soft voices of the fae. He followed the main path before going onto a deer trail that led directly to a small cabin. Something he could say he was proud of making. It wasn't an easy feat, but with the help of the other magical creatures, he managed.

He entered the house, setting the bags onto the table. "I'm home!" his voice called out in the house. A creak followed by footsteps down wooden stairs resounded. A blonde bedhead looking boy with a slightly small build coming over. Green emeralds sparkling in curiosity over the plethora of bags.

"W-Welcome home Ratatosk," a warm soft voice leaving Emil.

Ratatosk blinked slightly at the other before smirking. "Well. Someone ended up with effeminate features today." he teased.

"I'm Sti-ill male I assure you!" Emil pouted his cheeks. "I still don't like that l-look you have. It's… weird looking."

"He's a traveler. Probably a foreigner. Likely not from around here." He dug a hand into one of the bags, pulling out an apple and tossing it to Emil. "There's a bunch of rumors about the deaths you've caused."

"W-What!?" Emil fumbled at catching the apple, but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. Rubbing the reddish yellow fruit on his faded blue shirt. "A-a-are the-ey real-really talking about it a-all…?" He visibly deflated. Bothered by the deaths he caused.

"Well, yeah. 12 people in a single week. People are going to talk. Keep that up and we'll need to either relocate deeper into the woods and completely cut off contact or move to a different town's outskirts." Rata picked some bags up and over to cabinets and pantries, putting the contents away. "After all, if they knew we lived here we could be hung, or burned, or worse. I don't plan on dying by their hands thanks. It's bad enough we have death seekers. The forest grave is getting too big. Most don't even have names-how pathetic is that?"

Emil sat on the cushioned chair, nodding slightly. "I-I.. I know.." he mumbled. He felt horrible about the deaths and the death seekers. Wanted no part in their charades. However, like Ratatosk, he did like this location a lot. It allowed him a society to connect to humans, but also allowed him to be away and safe from that very same human society. It allowed his brother to mostly remain unbothered by humans and to interact with other species. "Do... D-Do you.. Erm… consider yourself.. Uh.. mm... Well. I-I mean…" he fiddled with the apple in his hand. "A part of the fae life h-here...?" he asked hesitantly.

Ratatosk paused, sitting where he was for a bit. The gears in his head turned to give his brother a reply. "We take human faces, bring death to humans for taking their faces, and are ostracized by society because of this curse… I don't know. I don't like how we were treated, but at the same time… surely it was a fae that cursed us," he hummed in thought. "I don't know."

Emil nodded slowly in understanding. "I-if you had a choice... Wo-would, would you ch-choose to be human?"

"All of these questions." a sigh "I don't think so. Maybe be like… hmm... An elf or something. Something similar but different." Emil tilted his head at his brother's comment. Well, he wasn't expecting that for an answer. "I'm kidding Emil. Honestly, I would choose to be normal. To have my own face. I don't care what species that is, as long as I have something of my own. I should only ever have to share that with one person, which is you."

Emil smiled slightly "J-Just me?"

"Well duh, you're my twin brother! Of course just you! I also would want to be immune to dopplegängers, because fuck this whole death from seeing a look-alike thing." He rolled his red eyes. "Anway, what are you sitting around for! Come help me out, sheesh."

"O-okay!"


	3. Chapter 2

The creak of a chair resounded and then dulled against wooden walls. Feet propped against the table as a male leaned dangerously far back in his chair, a pencil held up on his face by his upper lip and nose in deep thought, looking at the wall full of newspaper clippings. Some of the pieces were fresh printed grey paper while the rest had seen it's fair share of candle light and sunlight. Scrawled in black ink were all the deaths that occurred in Auerheim and other, not-so-local town, that spanned across many years. The male breathed a sigh, leaning back slightly farther on his tilted chair.

"This is worse than a murder mystery. It makes absolutely no sense."

From over in the other corner, dimly lit by a single lantern was a bigger male. The light created a golden red glow off his deep satin red hair. Moss colored green eyes glancing at the male on the chair. "Aster, you're going to fall and hurt yourself. Sit on it straight."

He tilted farther in his chair in protest, the pencil falling off his face and clattering to the floor from his continued talking. "It makes no sense though! What do any of these deaths have in connection aside of dying for seemingly no reason and everyone sharing the same delirium that their clone ran into them?" he puffed a cheek, "Usually finding a connection and motive is obvious! There's none here though! C'mon, Richter, aren't you the least bit curious?"

"No." A quick and dry answer. "We're not a detective firm, we are researchers currently studying to what degree are humans connected to Magic. I would have thought catching Evelyn the Face Stealer and nearly dying from that encounter would have set you straight from this nonsense." he put a hand on the bridge of his nose, obviously still displeased with the situation they were in.

"Awww but Rich~" he leaned back farther, "It was only a small cut along my jawline! Just a small flesh wound!"

"You could have died had I not caught up to you!" Richter scolded, jolting Aster enough that he clattered to the floor completely. His white jacket flopped over his head as he rolled over to sit up, pushing the white folds of cloth off him. His blonde hair was completely disheveled now.

"But I didn't. Pleeeeaaase! This is the last time I promise!" Aster clasped his hands and did an impression of a begging puppy.

Richter took his glasses off momentarily, pretending to clean the lenses. Really he was trying to make sure he couldn't see Aster's adorable features contort into a pout. He wasn't going to give in! Or… so he thought. He could still imagine the look in his head and even that was enough to wear him down. "Fine," a sigh, "This is the last time. No more after this. We're scientists Aster. Not murder mystery detectives."

Aster picked up his pencil and straightened out his chair before practically pouncing on the older male. "THANK YOU!" He exclaimed joyously.

"Yeah, yeah. You have a month, Aster. I think you've gathered more than enough news clippings to have figured something out." Richter held the blond who had leapt onto him. He almost fell out of his chair from the impact but managed a loud scoot to push the chair back firmly in standing position.

"The only similarities are a look alike being on the scene and various different ways of dying. Some from heart attacks, others from aneurysms, and the majority just… their heart stopped or something."

"So they die from meeting a dopplegänger? That's it? Are you sure this is a murder mystery?"

Aster took a hard pause from Richter's words before scrambling off him and running over to a shelf full of story books. Pulling out and thumbing through many of them before returning to the shelf while also setting a few books off to the side. Fervently searching for something. Richter blinked at the sudden fervour of his partner.

"Aster?" He asked curiously before getting up from his chair and walking over.

Aster finally found the book he was looking for after much digging and making a mess of the shelf before exclaiming "Ahah!"

"Ahah, what?" Richter echoed.

"DOPPLEGÄNGERS, RICHTER!" he shouted, a crazed look in his eyes. Richter knew this face all too well. The other often acquired it when he was onto something brilliant… or incredibly dumb.

"Okay, and?"

Aster flipped open to the page before handing it off to Richter. "Doppelgängers are mischievous fae that steal the looks of others. A single look from your would-be self is enough to kill you! I was thinking too hard that this was a human murdering spree, but it's a fae!"

Aster had officially lost Richter in his ramblings. The redhead shook his head sighing. "That…" he paused briefly, "is by far the dumbest thing you have come up with, Aster."

The scrutiny of the comment made the blond puff out his cheeks again. "Okay then. We'll go into the woods."

"What?"

"And look for it-"

"Aster it's night time."

"and If we do find a dopplegänger, you owe me two dozen donuts!"

Richter stared at Aster in disbelief. "It's night time."

"Isn't that the best time to go Fae hunting?" He countered, walking over to a closet near the bookshelf and pulling out a tan jacket

"But-"

"You don't have to come with if you don't want to Richter." Aster smiled at the red head. "Every theory is worth exhausting at the very least, right? I want to at least put it to the test before admitting it's a dumb theory."

Richter walked over to the closet as well, pulling out a grey jacket himself. "Fine, but only because you make a sound argument. Please don't walk too far ahead of me this time."

"I won't! I'll share some donuts with you if you keep up~." He giggled in reply. Richter looked away, a blush tinting his cheeks. He'll always wonder how he ended up with the most vibrant person in the world as a partner. Gloved hands shoved into his pockets with a small clearing of his throat.

"Well, let's go then. While the night is still young," he directed. Aster happily took him up on that and opening the door to a main room which then led to outside. The cool air meeting his tanned skin, Richter followed after him. One of these days, Richter thought, he'd finally work up the courage to ask his science partner to be more than just that. Maybe after this whole shenanigans was over with the doppelgänger search.


	4. Chapter 3

The path to Neubirn forest was riddled with leaves, twigs, and tree debris. The only reason the two males knew that it was there was thanks to the lantern light that shone through the darkness and the occasional snapping of twigs, crunching of leaves, and needing to step over a trunk or two. Aster shuddered slightly when the wind howled right through his jacket, the piercing cold like pins and needles against the skin. Richter kept up with Aster as best as he could while trying to keep an eye out around the dark woods. Besides the lantern, their only other light source was the moon and even that wasn't giving him enough light to see.

"Aster, Slow down. I can't really see without the lantern," he informed the blond who heeded him. He slowed to a stop and turned to face Richter, teeth absolutely chattering. Richter, finally reaching Aster, put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him close, preventing Aster from continuing on for a moment. "You're cold. You should have worn more layers."

"I-I-I-I-I'-m-mmm fi-i-nn-n-ne." Aster shook while taking the gesture to cling to Richter for warmth.

"It's fall. It's been fall." He sighed, taking the scarf off from around his neck and wrapping it around Aster's. He'll be damned if he let his small partner catch a cold from negligence.

"I-I-It's o-o-onn-n-ly O-o-o-cc-kk-ck- BURR" He wiggled slightly to warm up. "It's only O-octobe-er though R-R-r-r-i-richte-er."

Richter shook his head, "We should head back. We can barely see, you're freezing, and it's not safe to be traversing these woods."

"No-No-no-no-no! I'm fi-i-inne! Fine! Se-ee! Warming u-up now!" Aster was now hopping on his feet trying to get the blood pumping. "We can conti-inue st-i-ill!"

"You sound like you have a speech impediment with how chattery your teeth are." He tried to not chuckled, but an amused 'hmph' did leave him.

Aster laughed, "H-Hey! D-d-d-don't b-be-e mean to thos-s-se that actu-tually have one-ne!"

"C'mon then, since you're so insistent we find your doppelgänger tonight."

Aster handed the lantern off to Richter before pulling out a small rod like device. "I want to test this, it's the perfect place to!" a click of the button and from the one end of the rod did it illuminate the forest. "Haha! Better than a lantern!" he exclaimed.

Richter looked at it bemused. "A… torch? But it has no flames… Aster when did you make this?" When did Aster make any of the random inventions he created was the real question.

Aster grinned "Our research is to see what capacity humans have for magic. This is powered only when a creature of magic touches it! Granted, the more magic that is in the person the brighter the light," He shrugged. "It was much brighter when I tested it on wish stones."

Richter breathed a small sigh. "So you do work on research in amongst your murder mystery solving,." he was quite surprised by that if he had to be honest. He thought when Aster got distracted, that was that and no work henceforth was completed. However, "When do you have time to sleep?"

A sheepish grin painted itself on the young scientist's face. "I'm on my third day without~"

"ASTER."

"Shhhhh! Keep your voice down. We're in the dreaded fae forest, remember?" He giggled, walking along with the lit rod in hand, stepping around a pile of leaves on the path before stopping again. "Hey Rich, do fairies rake leaves?"

"Is that your sleep deprivation talking or-" Richter followed Aster up to where the blond had continued on to, staring at the path. "Oh." Indeed the path seemed to be raked, though missing were the obvious grooves that a rake created.

Richter continued on ahead of Aster, nervousness filling his ears with a heartbeat. Mossy eyes looked around for anything suspicious, including rustling leaves. The path didn't seem to end, it felt like. Which was worrying for Richter. What was on the other side of these woods? He must have been paranoid enough by the uncovered leafless path because Aster crept up unto Richter and near his ear gave a hearty-

"BOO~"

"AST-STER!" Richter jumped almost a foot in the air in fright from the other's nonsense who melted into a puddle of laughter. "That- do you recall where we are!?" he spluttered to the blond who still hadn't recovered from laughing.

"I'm ahaha s-sorry I just, you got so tense and I pfffff" he melted back into giggles.

Richter put a gloved hand onto his forehead and composed himself from the sudden onslaught of fright. "Right, well when you're done laughing, can we continue on? It's going to be morning by the time we're done here." Aster nodded, also trying to compose himself to very little avail before his eyes caught sight of something in the distance.

He tugged at Richter's jacket and pointed, shining the lit rod in the general direction. "Is that… a cottage?" The lights glimmered through the foliage of the forest, and smoke clearly rose out from the chimney. Richter took his glasses off momentarily and cleaned his spectacles before returning them to his face, as if in disbelief to what he was seeing.

"I… I think so." Richter confirmed. "Did… Were there townspeople who planned on moving into these woods? Wouldn't the Fae have driven them out?" He found it odd. Exhilarating, sure, but odd. What was special about the inhabitants of this place that the fae allowed it?

"Unless they are also fae, Rich." Aster breathed under his breath. His green hues looked around, trying to find an easy path that led over to the cottage. He backtracked slightly, looking around before opting to continue on. A slight brisk walking pace down the dirt path that was free from leaves. Aster's feet thudded against the earth as his pace picked up, and Richter realized that the blond had once again took off without him.

"Aster, wait!" He scrambled after the blond. This always happened, he swore. Once second he was right by his side and the next second he was running off! "Aster!" He called for the other again. Aster wasn't slowing up. Soon he saw the torch Aster held divert off the main path. Equipped only with a lantern it took him longer to find the deer trail, covered by bushes and weeds that hid such a slender path. He couldn't tell if it was a legitimate deer path or one made by people. He walked carefully along the path, worried that it could be a legitimate animal trail. Fearing getting bitten by a snake or rubbing against poison ivy. Neither of which he found to be there once he got to the end where the field opened up. His eyes looked up and found Aster, already at the door, staring at it in wonder.

"Aster," he whispered harshly to his companion. "Get back here, now!"

Aster looked back to Richter and waved the redhead over. "But Rich! It's a cottage! I hear talking inside!" Aster also whispered back.

"They could just be normal people, Aster. It's almost midnight, you'll be disturbing them!"

"What if they aren't just normal people though!" he gave bunny air quotes to the word just, as if to push his point further that it couldn't be the case. "C'mon Rich, this could be who we're looking for!"

"You said they are talking inside. There's more than one." Richter countered harshly.

"I talk to myself all the time though."

"That's because you forget I'm not in the room." Richter rolled his eyes.

"Then stop leaving me alone in rooms~" Aster giggled silently. "C'mon, come over here. It doesn't hurt to knock and ask." he tried pushing again for Richter to cross the field over to the entrance.

Richter on the other hand snuffed out the light from his lantern and ducked low when he saw a shadow near the window. "Aster. Come. Back. Here. Now." He whispered again.

Aster huffed, turning to the door and giving it three loud raps onto it. "Hello?" He asked to whomever could be on the other side. There were shuffling, then a long pause. Then what seemed like a muffled heated debate. Richter was right, there were more than one inside. However, he didn't think it was more than two. "My name's Aster, I live in the town nearby. It's called Auerheim, perhaps you know it?" He said again after there was another pregnant pause.

"Aster, stop it, come back here." Richter pleaded, this time not so silently. He saw it in the window, he knew Aster's frame anywhere. Even if he knew it wasn't Aster. "Look you were right, it's a Doppelgänger, now please come back before they open the door."

Aster was a tad ticked with Richter now. "If I'm right, then I want to see them," he replied with a huff.

"Aster, please!"

Aster ignored him this time, knocking on it again. A timid voice left the other side of the door, seemingly as though someone approached it. "U-Um.. W-Why are you here?"

"I wanted to know how you managed to attain a house within this forest. Aren't the fae mad at you?" Aster played coy, unsure if they overheard richter.

Aster saw a small cat slink over smoothly to him in graceful movements, stopping at his boot to sniff at it. It was an odd color for a cat, Aster thought to himself. The way it was painted in vibrant reds with white markings. Like a tabby… if tabbies could be inverted and made red. Aster reached down and picked the cat up curiously, waiting for the person on the other side of the door to reply. Perhaps they were scared? Or they couldn't answer? The cat rubbed it's cheeks against Aster's hand that was petting it, purring softly. Perhaps it was a stray? It seemed too personable to be a stray though. Was it their cat? He knew animals weren't afraid of the forest, as all animals were seen as friends to the fae. So perhaps the cat was cared for by the fairies? He perked up when the other finally replied.

"N-No.. Th-they aren't mad… I think…" he heard the other shift next to the door. Were they scared of Aster? Or… oh man, Aster wondered if this person had a speech impediment. "W-were you… um.. And some-someone else s-scre-screaming in the woods?"

"That was me and Richter" Aster confirmed, "Sorry for scaring you. Can I meet you?" The cat gave a rather wide yawn at this, before leaping up onto Aster's shoulders, perched and looking over his head. Curiosity glinting in it's auburn eyes.

There was a pause, some more inaudible whispers. Aster looked back to Richter, who seemed frozen in his spot. Hesitation clear in his eyes. What was he being such a scaredy cat for? A different voice... Or similar? It was deeper than the first one, however it sounded plausible that it could be the first one? "What's your name and what do you look like?" The cat meowed as if to talk back to the voice. Which prompted some more whispers.

Aster was slightly taken aback to how sure this voice sounded in comparison to the other one. "I'm Aster Laker, I have… Black hair, brown eyes, pasty white skin, and uh.. I guess we can consider my face squarish." Aster lied. "I'm about Fiiiiive.. Ten in height. Need anything else?"

Aster watched the cat jump down from his shoulders onto the ground, darting to the door pawing at it. Did it want in? It was such a curious kitty he mused… Or perhaps it really was their cat.

"And your friend?"

"He's got loooong flowing red hair, tannish skin.. Kinda, beautiful porcelain features if you ask me. He wears glasses and has… mmm… probably mossy green eyes. He's about five, eleven. His name is Richter Abend." Aster practically gushed about Richter, telling the truth. He had meant to lie as well, but it was was worth seeing if it would cause Richter to blush. A quick glance back to him and he was correct. The redhead's face was a lit red light bulb. Aster restrained himself from giggling. "What do you look like… I assume there's two of you?" The cat then sat on Aster's foot.

There was another pause before a sigh. "Short red hair, freckles, sunburnt skin, red eyes about five, eight if I had to guess. The other with me is blonde short hair about to his jaw line, lightly tanned skin, green eyes… roughly five, five or five, six."

Aster's heart was beating faster than it had been. Anxiety welling up in him. So one of them matched his description? "So why does appearance matter? Can I see you both now then?" Aster said without thinking it entirely through. The cat moving away and back into the brush.

Another pause. Behind Aster, he could hear Richter approaching. Did his partner finally get over himself? "We match neither of their descriptions so..." The deeper voice finally said. The door finally opened inward, light blinding at first before his vision cleared.


	5. Chapter 4

Ratatosk and Emil had finished putting groceries away before Ratatosk stretched in place. He was glad to be back in the forest. "Welp, I assume you're going to do some baking, right?" He asked the other in the room who sat on a chair flipping through a cookbook.

"U-um.." Emil nodded in reply. "Is… Is that okay?" Hesitation shown through his question as he looked up to Ratatosk. The freckled male put a hand to his hip and tilted his head slightly.

"I expected it. What do you mean 'Is that okay?'. If you always do it, why wouldn't it be?" He questioned back. Emil looked back down at his book nodding slightly.

"I.. um.. I don't get the sense you like.. i-it when I-I b-bake…" Emil mumbled to himself.

Ratatosk looked out the window, it was roughly noon if he had to guess. He sighed, taking a seat next to Emil. "Okay, why exactly?"

"Eh? Uh.. w-well…"

"Emil."

Emil looked back up to Ratatosk. He sincerely hoped he wasn't in trouble with his brother. However, Ratatosk simply patted Emil's head.

"You look like a whipped dog with that face."

"Eh!?" Of all the things he anticipated Ratatosk saying, that was not it. "R-Ratatosk! T-that's not f-fu-funny! This is someone's f-face!"

"Exactly, and you're making it look like a whipped dog." He grinned. "Yeah, I don't get why you bake a lot. I'm sure it's just… I don't know, you're coping mechanism or whatever. I'm here to talk to, though. We almost never talk anymore about things that bother you. You're constantly bottling it up and drowning yourself in baking instead." The grin that once painted his face had slipped away.

"That's..." Emil was now no longer looking Ratatosk in the eye again but down at his hands in his lap. "That's because you... Ne-never tal-talk about what's eating a-at you… It's alwa-always just been me and I-I feel… self-self-fish."

Ratatosk's face was now one of shock, looking away from the blonde. "Oh."

"A-And I know... I know my stu-stu-tte-stutter mak-kes you upset…" Emil continued, his hands now firmly clasped, trembling.

The redhead shook his head slightly before sighing. "No. No, it doesn't Emil. I'm used to it." His tone was softer, but almost in self reflection. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't benefit from telling people what's wrong with me. You do though, I know you do. You always bounced back anytime you opened up to me or the fairies."

"That's!" Emil exclaimed "That's because you're all so kind!" he spoke with clarity in this sentence. Ratatosk shrugged.

"If you say so. I don't particularly consider myself 'kind'. If anything, I'm the reason you can't live in amongst humans." He said somberly.

"I-It's not your fault! D-Don't blame your-yourse-self!" Emil looked up from his lap to Ratatosk. "Don't take bl-blame for something neither of us-s have co-control over."

"Right… Well. Whatever, what is it that's eating at you, Emil." Ratatoks brushed the topic aside. Emil standing up from his chair.

"No, it's n-not whatever. I-Is that what's bo-both-thering you?"

"Emil-"

"Ratatosk, Please. I'm here t-to help you too."

"You're not going to back down from this… Are you?" Ratatosk looked up to Emil, motioning for him to sit back down. Emil blushed slightly at his own outburst and sat back down.

"No." He confirmed.

"I think it's highly suspect that doppelgängers are born from normal people, yet are considered fae. What separates us from real doppelgängers if they are a Fae species and not a human species? Our mother always said we were cursed, but never mentioned by who." Ratatosk shrugged. "And it's not like we can ask her anymore, so it's pointless. I had the opportunity to ask and I didn't. I could have tracked down who did this and given you the chance to be normal." Ratatosk crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the table.

Emil sat in silence slightly, taking in what Ratatosk said. Of course, how had he not noticed. Maybe that's why Ratatosk constantly hung around the fae. He was trying to get information. "Do… Do you think Au-Aunt… Aunt F-Fl-Flor-ora knows?"

"I doubt that bitch would tell us even if we asked. Especially after I killed her husband." he spat in reply. "Flora may be directly related to us, but she's too stuck up her own ass to care about others."

Emil sighed and nodded. "You think… sh-she'll ever f-forgi-ive us?"

"Why should she, I had every intention of killing him. Through our unfortunate circumstance or by hand."

Emil paled slightly. "Ratatosk. Th-That's-"

"It was just luck that I ended up looking like him, but I sought him out after I realized what occurred. We never look like family members. He wasn't family." He didn't back down from it. Eyes boring into Emil. "Your speech impediment is his fucking fault. He deserved what he had coming."

Emil deflated, his shoulders sagging. Remembering all of the horrible times Uncle Alba would come home and beat him. He always did so when Ratatosk was away, or out of the house. He tried to hide the injuries from Ratatosk, but a broken arm was too hard to hide. Ratatosk had initially thought his stutter was Emil thinking too fast before he spoke but the revelation had set it all in place for him on what was really going on. Then learning that Aunt Flora never once came to his aid made Ratatosk so angry, Emil was afraid of him for a few years. It was a week later that Ratatosk stole Uncle Alba's face and it was that same day Uncle Alba died. Emil remembered it all so clearly.

He got up and over to the fridge and pulled out two containers of chocolate pudding, and then over to a drawer pulling out two spoons. He set the one spoon and container in front of Ratatosk. "W-Well, I'm still glad to be with you despite it." he gave a nervous smile.

The freckled redhead looked up at Emil in slight confusion, "Emil?" It was putting it lightly to say he felt touched by those words. He always wondered if his brother wanted nothing to do with him.

"I-I think w-we both could u-use some pudding." Emil nodded taking the lids off and sitting back down his spot, spooning some into his own mouth and giving a happy hum. "So good~" he practically melted.

Ratatosk arched an eyebrow at his brother. "Dessert before dinner. Is that how we're rolling now?" He teased with a chuckle before also picking up the spoon.

Emil gave a small laugh. "We live alone! We make the rules!"

"Touche. If your appetite is ruined, don't blame me," he shook his head also taking a bite of the pudding. He concurred, it really was good. "Okay, I agree, spending 6 hours trying to figure out how to make pudding was worth it."

Emil laughed some more "See! I told you!"

Ratatosk glanced out the window again to find night time blocking his sight of the outside. "Welp, we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting."

"I-Is that a bad thing? D-Did you ha-ave plans today?" Emil tilted his head nomming on another bite.

"No, it's fine." he stretched in his seat. "I don't plan my days, they plan themselves," he reassured Emil.

"O-okay." He nodded

The both of them sat in silence for a bit, eating from the small pudding dishes. Emil loved this pudding a lot, he'll have to make another batch in the future. "Oh! I have to let Butterscotch in!" Emil hopped up from his seat and over to the door, opening it just as a loud 'ASTER' resounded. He quickly closed it in fright. Ratatosk had hopped from his seat and over to the door. He had a serious look on his face.

"Again? How many more death seekers are there going to be before they get the hint to stay away?" Ratatosk practically spat. Emil clung to Ratatosk's arm slightly, trembling like a leaf.

"I-I-I-I-I th-th-in-thin-think th-there-ere's m-mm-more than-n o-on-ne." Emil was struggling to say a single word without a stutter.

Ratatosk led Emil back over to the chairs and had him sit down. "Stop talking. Focus on breathing. I won't let anything happen to us, okay?" Emil nodded, yet wasn't letting go of Ratatosk's sleeve. He knelt beside his brother and rubbed his shoulder, trying his best to calm him down. Really, Ratatosk wanted to dim the lights so that it'd be hard to find their cabin, but no way in hell did he dare to with Emil shaken up like this.

It took a small bit, but Emil did finally let got of Ratatosk's sleeve, finding the rubs on his shoulder soothing. The red head patted the blond before remembering that Emil's cat companion was still outside. He bit his lip slightly, wondering if it was worth risking going outside to fetch the cat while there were hooligans outside. Judging from the sound of that yell.. He had to guess that whoever it was truly did intend to enter the woods. They had to be just before the cleared path that he made. He crept to the door and opened it slightly, inching his way outside. Keeping an eye over at the trail. Emil watched, hands clenched against his chest. Fear for his brother pounding loudly against his chest.

Ratatosk whispered while looking around. "Butterscotch. Hey. Butterscotch, c'mere. For fucks sake, of all days it chooses to be late today." he hissed. "Butterscotch!" he whispered a tad louder. He half wondered if the loud noises scared Butterscotch from coming near. He thought it was possible. He swore Emil needed to stop letting this cat out and about. However, he froze and fell deathly silent when a loud 'BOO!' and 'AS-STER!' resounded. Ratatosk shook himself slightly, deciding to hell with the cat and went back inside, closing the door and bolting it shut.

Emil had eyes for saucers. "W-What-at a-ab-about-"

"She's a smart cat, she'll be fine." Ratatosk replied.

"Bu-but-" Emil tried countering until another muffled yell occurred outside. They knew. The cabin had to of been spotted at this point. Emil trembled some more, tears welling up in his eyes. "W-Why d-d-do they-ey al-" he hiccuped, "w-ways c-com-mme here!"

"Shhh, Emil. It's fine, We're fine, okay? It's not anything we aren't used to, right? Just two death seekers instead of one. We're okay. Our luck has been 20 for 20. One of us has always matched the death seeker." Ratatosk tried to reassure.

"But th-th-there's two o-of them." Emil mumbled.

"I know.. We're fine. We'll leave through the basement if we don't match one of them, okay?" He put his hands on Emil's shoulders and gripped slightly. "I need you to have courage. Please."

Emil nodded, though was still shaky in his breath. He stood up and walked over to the door with Ratatosk, keeping an ear out for sounds. His lip trembled slightly. There were definitely people outside of the house… or at the very least approaching still. Ratatosk had his ear pressed up against the door, a very stern look on his face. He could tell that Ratatosk didn't like this situation either. Maybe they should move on to a different town after tonight? Was that safe? Or move deeper into the woods into the section where the Fae absolutely kept humans out? Would that be okay for Emil and his brother, though? He failed the test last time, so what would make him pass it this time? Emil mustered every last bit of confidence he had left and peeked out the window. He barely caught it, but he saw someone snuffing out a light. He quickly moved away and hid behind the door next to Ratatosk, his heart beating rapidly.

"R-Ratatosk." He whispered, pointing to the window. "I-I saw s-s-som-mm-" His mouth was covered by his brother.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh. They're nearby." Emil licked his hand in retaliation and Ratatosk pulled away disgusted "Ew- Emil!" he whispered harshly.

"I-I saw o-one o-outside" he finished his thought.

"Why did you peek outside, Emil? What if they saw you?" Ratatosk sighed. He jumped a bit when a voice resounded suddenly next to the door.

"They could just be normal people, Aster. It's almost midnight, you'll be disturbing them!"

"What if they aren't just normal people though! C'mon Rich, this could be who we're looking for!"

"You said they are talking inside. There's more than one."

"I talk to myself all the time though."

"That's because you forget I'm not in the room."

Emil and Ratatosk froze. Looking at each other. Emil looked ready to lay an egg, where Ratatosk for once looked rattled. Emil didn't know what to do to help reassure Ratatosk, especially with how loud his heart felt in his ears. However, Ratatosk looking scared, made him even more scared. Knocking filtered through the wooden door, causing Emil to hold his breath. Ratatosk shook his head at Emil, putting a finger to his lips. He seemed to have regained composure however, Emil knew that flash of fear meant that even his brother wasn't immune to being terrified. He wanted to beat himself up for being so selfish and forcing Ratatosk to always be the stronger person. Those thoughts instantly died when once again there was a knock at the door. There seemed to be more talking on the other side, but neither of the twins wanted to put an ear to the door to hear.

Emil once again glanced at Ratatosk before working up the nerve to speak up. "U-Um.. W-Why are you here?"

"I wanted to know how you managed to attain a house within this forest. Aren't the fae mad at you?" The voice on the other side sounded young. From someone probably his age? Emil was stumped trying to come up with a reply. They technically weren't in the area that the Fae protected from humans. It was an awkward cross section for those who sought asylum from humans but weren't allowed in with the fae.

"N-No.. Th-they aren't mad… I think…" Emil tapped his fingers together, replying in what he thought was a lame fashion. "W-were you… um.. And some-someone else s-scre-screaming in the woods?"

"That was me and Richter. Sorry for scaring you. Can I meet you?" Emil hesitated, looking to Ratatosk for an answer. He grimaced slightly but seemed to recover from being scared. Or at least Emil thought he did.

"W-What should we say?" Emil asked Ratatosk who took a deep breath.

"What's your name and what do you look like?" His voice spoke up in place of Emil's. Emil blinked in shock to hear his brother speak instead.

"I'm Aster Laker, I have… Black hair, brown eyes, pasty white skin, and uh.. I guess we can consider my face squarish." Aster lied. "I'm about Fiiiiive.. Ten in height. Need anything else?"

"...Bullshit." he muttered under his breath. "And your friend?" Emil raised an eyebrow. What was bullshit? Emil tried to get his brother's attention silently to ask, but the other wasn't having it.

"He's got loooong flowing red hair, tannish skin.. Kinda, beautiful porcelain features if you ask me. He wears glasses and has… mmm… probably mossy green eyes. He's about five, eleven. His name is Richter Abend. What do you look like… I assume there's two of you?"

Emil casted a worry glance to Ratatosk, again trying to get his attention. Neither of them looked like them. What do they do? Did their 20/20 streak finally give out? Not that it was a good streak to Emil. "Ratatosk." He finally shook his brother's arm. "W-what do you m-mean bullshit?"

Ratatosk rolled his eyes and whispered back, "You have the same voice as he does. That's why it's bullshit." He gave a sigh before finally replying to this Aster kid, "Short red hair, freckles, sunburnt skin, red eyes about five, eight if I had to guess. The other with me is blonde short hair about to his jaw line, lightly tanned skin, green eyes… roughly five, five or five, six." He described the both of them while giving a quick look over of Emil and comparing him to the height chart that was hung to the door for rough guidance.

"So why does appearance matter? Can I see you both now then?"

Ratatosk thought it over slightly. Was it safe to? Did the other guy's 'Friend' go up to the door? He didn't hear him though, so he didn't think so. "We match neither of their descriptions so..." Ratatosk unbolted the door, and had Emil move back behind it. Sure enough, on the other side was the spitting image of Emil's current face. Ratatosk kicked him square in the chest, sending the poor blonde tumbling into the redhead he accurately described.

"Go Emil!" Ratatosk ordered to his brother, who stood behind the door, frozen in shock before finally scrambling over to the bookcase and climbing up the ladder on the side of it and jumping down a hole that was there. Ratatosk took off after Emil and kicked the bookcase over before also descending, both of them landing into the underground trail hideout.

Leave it to Butterscotch to purposely trip up Aster and Richter from catching up to the two boys.


	6. Chapter 5

Aster's eyes connected with a freckled red eyed face before the wind was knocked out of his lungs, falling back into Richter with a loud painful noise leaving his throat when he recovered. He curled up slightly before getting to his feet. Richter called out, ready to run in before suddenly tripping over the cat. "Hey, get back here- Shit!"

Aster saw the bookcase go tumbling to the ground and pulled Richter away from it, watching the unfamiliar face slip to the other side. "Richter, hoist me up! I'm going to go after-" Richter grabbed Aster's wrist and pulled him back harshly.

"NO! You were right. I wasn't lying when I said you were right, Aster. I saw your figure in the window." Richter held Aster in place. "You're lucky one of them saw through your lie. You're.. You're super lucky. You could have died, Aster! Let's go and leave them alone. Clearly they're more scared of us than we are of them."

Aster blinked, shocked by Richter's actions. He wasn't used to being told "no" so sternly by his companion. However, even he could tell he crossed a boundary and made Richter upset. "Rich…" He reached out and grabbed the cuff of Richter's sleeve. "I'm sorry, I… I got too excited and carried away..." Aster's eyes looked to the floor. His eyes landed on the cat that sat there with a glint in it's eye. "Say… Richter… Why did you chase after the one?"

There was a pause as Richter inhaled and let out a breath slowly. "I got angry that he kicked you." The answer was simple and straight to the point. Despite that though, it caused the corner of Aster's lip to twitch up.

"But what do we do with the knowledge that they do in fact exist and are the most probable reason for all the deaths? If they're scared of us, why kill in the first place?" Aster questioned while having a hand on his chin. "Also I'm super certain that you're their cat, Mr. Kitty."

"It's female, Aster"

"Miss Kitty."

Richter snorted slightly at how quickly Aster corrected himself. "Yeah I think it is their cat." He nodded in agreement.

Aster picked the feline up again, though it squirmed in his arms. Not wanting to be held this time. "Hey Rich, hoist me up. I want to send her on down after them."

"What? Are you nuts? Aster, you wanted me to hoist you up to chase after them before, why would I now?" Richter asked incredulously.

"If she's their pet cat I'm sure they'll miss her." He opted to setting the cat on the table for now. "It's likely a tunnel of sorts.. Maybe we should send her down to them with some food? Things they'll need?" Aster mused.

Richter stared at his partner. "You have a heart of gold, but I doubt they would appreciate it."

Aster rummaged around slightly, finding some cloth and putting his torch on it before quickly scribbling a note on how it worked in his pad that he pulled from his pocket and affixing the note to the torch. His attention was drawn to a rather large mechanism in the house. It was white with silver handles and gave a low hum. "What do you suppose this is?"

"A brick with handles. I have no idea." Richter shook his head.

The blond curiously opened the door and was met with a coldness. Inside it was food of varying sorts. "It's… an ice box? For preserving food?"

"What?" Richter approached it curiously and felt the coolness radiate from the square compartment. "A cold closet."

"PFFF" Aster covered his mouth to stop from laughing, to no avail.

"What!?"

"A- pfff - a cold closet! Hahaha oh man, Richter. That's- that's funny."

"No funnier than you calling it an ice box!"

"Well, whatever it is, it seems like they preserve food this way." Aster mused. He pulled out a few things he readily recognized and understood to be capable of being warmed and folded the cloth in such a way it acted like a pouch. He tied it around the cats abdomen who seemed to want no part in Aster touching her, but did nothing to remove the makeshift pouch. He once again picked up the cat, went over to Richter and gave his best impression of a kicked dog. "Please, Richter?"

The taller male sighed and hoisted aster up over where the bookcase once was. Aster sat the cat down and gave it one final pet. "C'mon missy, go on"

As if the small bit of goading was all she needed, she jumped down into the darkness. The echoes of her land traveling up along with patter of her running. Richter sat Aster down. "A short drop, travels underground." Aster relayed.

"You counted." Richter deadpanned.

"Pffsshh of course I did. Well... anyways… now what?" Aster looked around.

"We leave. Hope they return. Send them a basket of fruit with an apology, and promise to never return." Richter crossed his arms.

"We're kinda.. leaving their place a mess though." Aster scratched his cheek slightly, noting the books, the bookshelf, and the fact that the two individuals we're doing something before they showed up. "Can't that also be a part of the apology? 'Hey sorry to scare you, we cleaned up your place'?"

"It'd be invading their space."

"I'm sure if their cat finds them they'll know I did a tad bit" Aster grinned.

"... I can't argue with you, can I?" Richter came to the realization.

"Nope!" The blond practically chirped.

Richter shook his head and bent down, hoisting the bookshelf back in place, some more of the books falling out in the process. Aster collected the books and started putting them into the bookcase, instantly applying them by category on the shelves.

"They must love to cook and bake." Aster commented as he added what felt like the 15th cookbook to the shelf.

"Can't relate."

Aster giggled at the dry comment Richter gave. They had an array of all kinds of books. Some were building books, there were a few academic books, and some casual reading. However, there was one book that didn't fit. "Um.. hm."

"What's wrong?"

"I can't squeeze this book in this shelf.. I'm not even sure how it fit in here in the first place." Aster tried yet another spot to no avail.

"Perhaps it was hidden behind taller books in the back?" Richter prompted. Aster's green hues glanced over to Richter who was sitting at the table. Richter, while Aster tidied the bookcase, had cleared the table, washed the dishes and put everything away as best as possible. "What is the title?"

Aster looked at the binding, front and back before opening the red book. "Ratatosk's Journal" Aster read aloud.

"Put it on top of other books for now. I'm sure whichever one was Ratatosk, they'll put it away." Of course Richter said that hoping to stop the curious researcher from snooping.

To no avail, as Aster flipped through many pages before landing on a page with intricate drawings. "He's an artist!" Aster admired some of the pieces. Before looking at the text. "Ah, well. Darn. It's written in code. So can't peak anyway." Aster closed the book and set it on top of a set of books. Based on the drawings of buildings, furniture, and what looked to be blue prints, he figured Ratatosk owned the building type books.

"Smart." Richter shook his head. "He made it Aster proof."

Aster rolled his eyes. "Give me a week and I'll crack it."

"No you won't. You're leaving that book here. You have no idea what they'll need it for." Richter got up from his chair. "Well, we cleaned the best that we could and tidied up. We should go." He quickly looked out the window and sure enough the sun was peeking of the horizon. He gave a slight grumbled sigh. "We spent the whole night out in these woods."

Aster put his jacket on and the scarf Richter had given him, buttoning up the front of it. "We discovered an answer to our mystery though!" he announced proudly. "No resolution though."

"If I were them, and I'm being honest Aster, I would skip town immediately." Richter pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose slightly.

"Is that why you didn't want to tidy up?" Aster questioned while handing Richter his jacket.

"No, it just occurred to me now." He took the jacket Aster handed to him and put it on, also buttoning it up. "They're afraid of us, live out here remotely, and the deaths are usually infrequent if we ignore this past week with 12 deaths. One of them must be very good at dodging the person they look like, and the other is probably really bad at it."

"Don't dopplegängers pick who they look like?" Aster tilted his head. "According to all of our books they are supposed to be able to choose."

"What if they can't?"

"That sounds like a hellish life, but why travel amongst humans? The fae don't want them?"

"... Hmm" Richter tapped his foot slightly, looking to the ground thinking. "They like to cook and bake… How hard do you think it is to get baking ingredients from the forest?"

"There's no wheat fields so probably hard… Oh. They keep going into town for baking supplies." Aster put a fist to his hand as if having an 'Ahah' moment.

"That's what I'm thinking." Richter sighed, opening the door. "Well, let's go. If they come back, they come back. If they don't. They don't."

Aster followed Richter to outside, the door closing behind them by Richter's hand. "You're hoping they do come back~" he smiled. "I hope they do too."

"I'll give it a week before going back to leave an apology basket." Richter nodded in reply. "If anything, maybe we can gain some forgiveness for your prying curiosity.

The two of them set back down on the path, walking back to town. Richter gave a big yawn that Aster almost immediately mimicked. The two of them were tired and looked forward to going home to bed.


	7. Chapter 6

Emil landed on his feet with a thud moving away from the entrance. Worried green eyes watching for his brother as panicked gasps clutched at his throat making his mouth dry. Soon he heard a loud thud of his brother coming down, running over to Emil and grabbing his hand.

"Ratato-"

"Move, c'mon!" He ordered, ushering Emil down the musty dark path. It didn't take long before the light that did filter through the house couldn't be seen, darkness absorbing them. Ratatosk kept a firm grip of Emil's hand, not letting go. He could hear every breath they made, every echoing footstep, every drip of water. It was dark, cold, and moist down here. He knew it existed, knew Ratatosk had connected it to the house, but he never personally traveled through it. He should have, he thought. He was more scared of it because it was so dark and hard to see, didn't know where it exactly led and how long it was. Things he was sure his brother knew. It was only after a few minutes of traveling through the dark that he felt his brother pause and pull Emil down to sitting. The jerky action caused Emil to slip slightly on the wet floor.

"Ratatosk?" Emil questioned, fumbling slightly in the dark to reach out to him. He could hear the stuttering breaths the other gave, how shallow they were. He had never been so intrinsically aware of what a panic attack sounded like, but that's exactly what he recognized those shaky breaths to be. When his hand finally landed on his brother's chest, he pulled the other into a hug. He was sure the lack of reply from Ratatosk was because he didn't want his voice to betray him, letting out just how terrified he truly was. "Y-You kept y-your pr-prom-mise. We're ok-kay." He tried reassuring as he felt arms wrap around him in return as a head put itself on Emil's shoulder and give a slight nod. Ratatosk's form trembled against him, absolutely breaking Emil's heart. He didn't like the knowledge of his brother being scared. He was too, of course, but his brother was always the strong fearless rock of them both. Right now though, Ratatosk was not that fearless rock. Neither of them were.

He rubbed the red heads back in small soothing circles with the tips of his fingers, allowing the sounds of the area to slowly calm their breaths. The drips pooled into puddles in rhythmic measure while a cool draft brought intrinsic awareness that they were indeed underground. Emil could feel his heart beginning to slow down and calm even if periodically it was still fluttery. Even Ratatosk's trembling died down slightly. He wasn't sure who's breathing it was he had synced with in following, but it was soothing and pulling at the tiredness that was at the fringes of his mind. The adrenaline rush was wearing off, and he desperately wanted to fight it from doing so. Emil stirred after a bit, but only because Ratatosk pulled away a small sigh escaping his lips.

"A-Are you... You okay?" Emil questioned.

Ratatosk nodded, and then seemingly remembered they were in the dark before finally replying "Yeah… Sorry."

"No no, It's fine." Emil shot down the apology. "I'm just… I'm glad yo-you're okay."

"You seem to be doing better." The comment caught Emil off guard, and he really wished there was a light. He could always understand Ratatosk's meaning better by his face. Even if it wasn't his face per se.

"U-um… h-how so?" He questioned. He had no choice but to, without any way to read his body language. His voice was… deceptive. It tricked almost everyone he knew.

"Your stutter isn't as bad as before." He replied with ease, exhaustion lightly laced in his words but barely enough that Emil realized he was also having an adrenaline crash.

"Where does… w-where does this tunnel l-lead?"

"Into a cave. It has many entrances, but we'll need to wait till day time in order to see." He shivered slightly after giving the reply, rubbing his arms to warm up. "Didn't expect it to be this cold down here."

"I-is there a lakebed nearby?"

"Oh, right. You don't leave the house much. There is, sort of. It's a bit of a ways off and channels down into here. The fairies love to soak in it for the minerals." Emil found that bit of information amusing and quite adorable, but it reminded him of their current predicament in the dark. "Why'd you ask?"

"Oh! Um, I keep h-hearing dr-dr-dripping noises."

"That's from the stalagmites and stalactites." Again another easy answer. Emil frowned to the darkness slightly, all the while knowing Ratatosk couldn't see it.

"How'd you learn all this."

"I asked. Also we own a book on it." Emil's cheeks blushed.

"W-We do?"

Ratatosk shifted slightly in his spot, Emil flinching from the sudden noise. "Yeah, it was on the bottom shelf… or used to be. I kicked it over to deter them following us."

Silence fell upon them both after that. Their soft breathing filling the void before Emil spoke up again.

"What… what are we going to do?"

Ratatosk bit the inside of his cheek, hesitantly asking. "Well, what is it that you want to do? I think you know our options at this point..."

Emil nodded before blurting out "Oh- sorry you can't see me- I mean sorry um…" however the blunder caused Ratatosk to smirk and laugh slightly

"I can't see you if you goof, goofball." Emil also laughed as well.

"I-I know but it came out suddenly. U-um… I think… uhm.. Well, is there a third-d option of g-going to see the great f-fairy of this forest and getting her opinion?" Emil asked after some thought.

"Oh-, I hadn't thought of that." Ratatosk rubbed his arm absentmindedly. "Is there a reason you want her opinion though?"

"Well… I think… I think w-we should move into the w-woods but-"

"You failed the test the first time."

"Yeah." Emil frowned.

Ratatosk pulled his knees to his chest with a small hum in thought. "So what makes you think you'll pass it this time? I'm not against you taking it again. However," he paused, gathering the words he wanted to say, "If you don't pass it again, what then? Ask her if it's safe on the fringes still despite those humans, or…?"

Emil took a breath, ready to reply, but let go of it after realizing he didn't have a good answer. Shifting in his own spot slightly and rubbing his fingertips along the smooth moist ground. "I… I don't know." He admitted finally. "I just… I want you t-to be safe and… I-I always feel like I'm pre-preventing that."

Ratatosk sighed. "I want you to be comfortable, Emil. You enjoy baking and we've already asked but the Fae can't provide you with what you need at this particular forest. They haven't yet forged an agreement with the local Elven tribe nearby. What we do know is the town over has an agreement."

"Wh-Why can't we live with the elves?" Emil mumbled.

"Because they don't like us. I asked a month or so back and they called us Changelings."

"Wh-What's that?"

The red head leaned against the wall of the path, the sharp rocks jutting into his back slightly. It wasn't at all smooth like the ground. "Changelings are Fae children swapped out with human children. Or elderly Fae swapped out with human children." Emil's jaw dropped. "Changelings are almost indistinguishable to human children and are sick with rare ailments or things that don't make sense."

"But-"

"We have no proof if we are or aren't." Ratatosk shot Emil's rebuttal down.

"E-Even so! Why would they think that when we don't know!"

"Because I passed the test on my first try." Emil stewed slightly in silence, scratching the ground now. Miffed that they would accuse his brother like that. The grating sound was picked up by Ratatosk's ears and while at first he questioned what it was, he figured it out and shook his head. "Emil stop picking at the ground. It's not good for your nails." Emil did what he was told, opting to ball his hands into fists.

"Just…" He gritted his teeth "J-just because you're better at casting away your humanity d-doesn't mean you're a changeling. They said even humans can pass the test!" Ratatosk reached over, finding his brother's arm in the dark before giving it a soft squeeze of appreciation.

"Thanks." He meant it. He was glad that even though the Elves thought it was so, his brother was willing to go to bat for him. Despite how timid Emil was.

"F-For what?"

"For being you." Ratatosk replied. Emil blushed slightly, not used to receiving a compliment from his brother. "Should we sleep? We have no idea how long it'll take for the sun to light up the area down here." He stretched his legs out again.

"I-I don't know if I can sleep." Emil bit at his lip slightly.

"Pff, well. I don't know if I can either, however. If we're going to see Foren, we'll need all the sleep we can get. The great fairy wouldn't be happy to see you looking like you haven't slept all night." Ratatosk teased.

"What? Wait, why would she care about wh-what I look like?"

Ratatoks laughed. "Emil, she was totally flirting with you before."

"What." Emil stared at the darkness where he was sure his brother was, eyes like saucers in utter disbelief. "Y-You better not be teasing me."

"Of course I'm teasing you. That's what siblings do. Why would the great fairy be interested in random kids?"

"Foren better smack you tomorrow." Emil pouted.

"Because you can't see me?" Ratatosk laughed some more.

"EXACTLY Because I can't see at the minute." Emil huffed before freezing in place. Hearing the light thud and pitter pattering of feet approach them before something fuzzy and warm jumped onto his lap, giving a small mewl. "Butterscotch!" Emil happily hugged the mass of fur on his lap, "You found us!" He was too overjoyed to be reunited with his pet to realize the small pouch on her back.

"How…" Ratatosk was skeptical. "How'd she jump up to the entrance…?"

"Does it matter how? I'm just glad she's here!"

"Yeah, Yeah, sure. Come back to reality for a second, Emil. There's no way she jumped that high up by herself. She never got up that high even with the bookshelf there."

Emil was chewing on his lip some more while he petted the feline, until his hand bumped into the pack on her back. "Oh? What's.. Wh-what do you have on your back, Butterscotch?" Emil fumbled with taking it off her back before feeling the fabric on his hand. He recognized it to be the handkerchief that was out on the buffet. Carefully, he undid the knots and laid it flat, his hand bumping into the various objects. A lot of it felt like… food? He thinks? Then his hand bumped into something cool and flashing into the darkness was a light. It blinded his vision as his brother gave a startled noise.

"What the hell was that!?" Ratatosk yelled.

"I-I-I do-don't k-know!" he groped at the darkness looking for the object till he found the smooth object, eyes shut tight in fear as he grabbed it. Again a bright unfiltered light shined through the once unstifled darkness. Emil peeked with one eye open, looking at what he was holding. His eyes took a small bit of time to adjust and become acquainted with light. "It's… A light... Thing." Emil tried describing.

Ratatosk didn't like it, and was on edge while Emil fumbled for the object. Even after getting used it. "Fairy tech?" He asked

"I-I don't… think so?"

"So human made."

"M-Ma-Maybe?" Butterscotch gave a yawn to the both of them. Ratatosk glared at the cat slightly.

"The hell did you allow those idiots do to you? Domesticate your dumb ass?" He hissed.

Emil giggled. "I-Isn't she t-technically domesticated? Sh-She sleeps with me a-at night. She's also not d-dumb, Ratatosk."

"Sure, sure." He rolled his eyes. Emil was so glad to be able to see his face again. He really did read better with his face, at least in Emil's opinion he did. "Hey," Ratatosk pointed at the stick, noticing a rubber band. "There seems to be some paper with writing on it."

Emil looked as well, perplexed by it. He took it off slowly, trying to not lose contact with their only light source, having figured out that him touching it made it shine. "Dear Residents of the cottage-"

"It's a cabin. Do those idiots not have eyes?"

Emil shot Ratatosk a look that said "Please don't interrupt me." before continuing on. "Sorry for scaring you a-and lying t-to you. We, be-being Aster and R-Rich-chter, were looking for the s-source of the deaths. T-The only cl-clue-ue we had wa-was a look-alike b-being involved. We assumed dopplegänger a-and went lo-loo-k-king around. We found s-some food t-to send to-to you a-along with my 'Torch'. I-It's m-mag-gic act-tivated so requires b-being held."

Ratatosk stared at Emil through the duration of the reading, waiting for Emil to pause. "Are… Are they seriously dumb in the head? Like… How were we supposed to read that note in the dark to figure that out." Emil giggled.

"W-Whoever wrote this s-seems imp-pulsive."

"The one who's face you're wearing seemed to be, Yeah." Ratatosk nodded.

Emil continued reading the note, "I, b-being Aster, w-wish to me-meet you both. W-we don't want to d-drive yo-you both away. S-Sorry for everything. Aster and Richter."

"Absolutely not, I am not meeting them again." Ratatosk hissed. Butterscotch crawling onto his lap to bap his cheek. "Stop being cute. I'm not going to, I don't care if you liked being domesticated by them."

Emil laughed. "Y-Your t-talking t-to a cat!"

"What? You do it all the time!" Ratatosk looked grumpy, but there was a small lift on one corner of his mouth. Emil knew, he didn't mean it in a bad way.

"W-Well… I want to return their light- uh.. Torch? I think it's called a torch." Emil looked back at the note. "I want to return it t-to them. Th-They can't b-be all bad if they a-are helping us o-out."

"I don't trust people who rummage through our things, and I especially don't trust food provided by strangers." Ratatosk crossed his arms, which was a mistake as it gave Butterscotch a spot to reach up and hop up onto his shoulders. "Hey- I'm not your perch, cat."

Emil smiled. "W-Well, i-it was still kind of them." Emil nodded. "W-We can use this rod thing to continue on, o-or to go back."

"... We're not going back, just in case they are still there. You matched the one, I assume Aster, so going back would kill him. I say we continue on. At the very least to get out of this cave." Ratatosk sighed while standing up, brushing his pants off.

Emil wrapped the food back up, holding it in his hand while passing the torch to his brother. Once verifying they were both ready to go after Emil stood up did they continue on down the path. It was now with the light that Emil realized that the path they were on opened up into a cave, with protruding thorns on the ceilings and floors. He assumed those were the stalagmites and stalactites Ratatosk had mentioned. The two of them walked along, following yellow markings on the walls. They looked to be painted with the same color as the house walls, and wondered if it helped in navigating which led where down in the cave. Periodically did they pass by blue markings and even red markings. Only once did he see a purple marking. They walked in silence for the most part, butterscotch lounging on Ratatosk's shoulders as their footsteps echoed in the cave. Emil admired the myriad of colors the wet rocks contained, and how they seemed to shimmer with crystals. They walked by a section where a part of the cave was submersed, the light bouncing off the surface like glass, interrupted at times by the ripple of waves when a drop landed on the surface. That was the first time his eyes saw a green paint that lead down a different path, the one which they turned on. Emil wondered if that was the end of the yellow paint, not seeing it continue on. The green trail's path was mossy and slick, Emil resting his hand along the smooth wall's for balance were equally as slick. Ratatosk seemed quite in his element, traveling through the various routes. Unaffected by the moss under their feet. He paused shortly, waiting for Emil to get a better stance on the ground before going up some stairs. Emil almost slipped a few times trying to go up the stairs but managed to reach the top where his body was instantly met with the cool night air of the deeper woods. His green hues could see the stars that peeked through the rustling leaves and gave a sigh of relief. They were out. They were finally free from the oppressive darkness and into a more natural darkness. Emil was so glad to finally see the moon again, though he knew he'd be even more glad to see the sun.

Ratatosk continued walking from there, following the dirt path past tall elegantly winding trees that carried glittering lanterns and lights. He pocketed the torch, making it's light die out, having no need for it now that they were near the heart of the fairy woods. Some of the fae giggled and waved at the boys, not at all hostile to their presence and even seemed more giddy than usual to see not one but both of them. Emil waved back sometimes with a smile, finding them to be cute. There were small birdhouses that some of the fae peeked out to see what the ruckus was about, while fae in bigger cottages would greet the boys with a nod before continuing with their night time rituals and activities. The energy in the woods absolutely buzzed till they reached the entrance, Emil almost bumping into Ratatosk.

A small orange haired fae greeted the two of them with a big smile. She came up to about Emil's hip, but the blond recognized her immediately. "H-Hi Efoile." Emil smiled back.

"Hello, Greetings, Salutations! My, look at you two, you both look like you could use a warm bath and a good nap, jeez! What brings you both here so late, I'm so used to Ratatosk visiting during the day and Emil… well almost never!" She giggled, her laugh sounding like chimes going off.

"Emil wants to meet Foren, is she awake still?" Ratatosk replied.

"Fae Queen Foren is not, No. Oh- but you both can stay at my place instead of making the trek back! I mind not at all!"

"Great, otherwise we would have slept in the woods."

"The woods!?... Oh dear, oh my, something has happened, hasn't it? Okay, now I understand why you both want to meet Foren. Come, come, you can stay with me for now." She grabbed both Emil's and Ratatosk's hands, causing them both to lean slightly to her height. Ratatosk wiggling out of her grip making her giggle again as she led the way.

Reaching her place, they found a small cozy hut made of twines and barked wood with intricate vines cascading up some of the wood, wrapping around round windows. Truly a house built for such a short dwarfish fae. The oak door with intricate engravings opened, and the smell of sugar and honey filled the air as she ushered the boys in. Ratatosk almost hit his head off the top of the door before ducking. He grumbled slightly before they entered the house. Thankfully the ceilings were tall enough for them to stand slightly straight. It was a warm abode with flowers growing from every corner and wall space, to glimmering jars full of shimmery substances. Emil smiled, always loving how fuzzy-feeling this place felt.

"Have you boys eaten yet? Oh, never matter, I'll feed you anyway." She gave a giggle going over to cupboards and drawers, pulling out an array of breads and jams and setting a lilac-colored kettle onto a metal rod over the fire.

"Efoile, you don-don't need to, r-really. I-I can help you." Emil stuttered scratching his cheek slightly.

"Oh hush now, I won't have it. You two have had a long night, I can see it on your faces. Sit, sit." she ushered them into chairs, Ratatosk opting to sit on the floor instead. He's learned a few too many times he weighed a bit too much to sit in them after a certain height. "Quite frankly it's impeccable timing that you boys came. Orvwin has made a recent discovery."

"Orvwin?" Emil tilted his head after sitting on the chair, fitting just barely.

"He's a Fairy, specifically a rainbow one." Ratatosk informed.

"Yes, well. We all just call him Orvwin since rainbow fairies are an odd lot. They call each other by colors. Colors! How useless. If a room of them are orange, then how do they know which one I mean!" she fussed slightly. "He was one of the few that had gone to meet the Astra fairies. Plannings for the Wish night and all."

"Useless night." Ratatosk rolled his red eyes while crossing his arms.

"Dear, that's why we're most certain you both are humans with a strange illness. Unlike those horrendous Elves. OOH, just the thought of them calling you both changelings makes me MAD." she stomped her feet in place slightly.

"So… Wish night doesn't work on hu-humans?" This was news to Emil, he had no idea. "Wh-why do humans pa-participate then?"

"Oh dearheart, it's not that it doesn't work on humans, humans need a special cloak for wish night to work on them." She shook her head with a small wispy sigh, "However, the Star cloak takes 50 years to make and the Astra fairies only gift them to royalty. Even borrowing one can be quite hard as the cloak then only lasts 75 years."

"So then why is Orvwin meeting the Astra fairies useful for us." Ratatosk put a hand to his chin to support his head. His elbow resting on the top of his knee in his pretzel sitting position.

"He mentioned the both of you in passing, he did. Apparently talking about the time he and Emil got lost in the berry side of the forest and was scared by Butterscotch. Fairies remember the weirdest of things to think on fondly. Anyway, he mentioned how wish night last year bore no success for either of you. Of course the Astra then asked what your wishes were." she recounted what Orvwin told her. "Well, the Astra decided since both of your wishes are not harmful ones, nor of ones that give much self gain, they decided to help. There's only one catch though."

"Being?" Ratatosk narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You don't wish to stop changing forms or the like, but to wish to know who cursed you both. They apparently are almost done making the new Star Cloak meant for Foren's daughter. They are willing to lend it only for this year's wish night. Knowing the Astra, I'm sure they'll want you both to be punctual." The water steamed in a whistle from the kettle, her small plump hands grabbing the handle and pulling three mugs of odd shapes out and pouring the water in before adding grounded cocoa. She handed the boys the mugs, bringing the plate of treats over for them. "I'm not sure if this is something either of you will be interested in, however. I think it's both of your best options."

Ratatosk taking the oddly shaped mug that looked like a cross between a gem and a rock hollowed out gave a contemplative hum. Emil looked over to his brother before using his own strange mug to warm his hands up on. "W-Well.. it's… better than nothing. I-I think."

"It is better than nothing… but it's asking us to directly confront whoever did this… assuming there's a culprit." Ratatosk clicked his teeth.

"That's just how the Astra are, love. They are about having strength and courage to rise against adversaries. They have quite the bleeding heart for such tales," she took a sip of the piping hot contents of her mug, unbothered by the temperature. "Of course, if it was the flower fairies way, they would have your journey be as easy as physically and logically possible. That's just how Fairies are. Each type of them have their own quirks."

"Well…" Ratatosk rubbed his hand absentmindedly on the wooden textured floor. "What do you want to do Emil?"

"I-I… I want to at least try it" he nodded. "It-It can't hurt to… um… know."

"No, it can't." the redhead agreed.

"Well, It's not until another week or so. If you both stay in the woods, being punctual shouldn't be hard." She took a piece of bread, slathering it with an orange looking gooey substance with a spoon. Emil wanted to try it as well but took the harsh hint to not when his brother reached over and pinched the back of his elbow.

"Only the blue ones, Emil. Is Foren going to be okay with us lingering so close to the Fae woods instead of on the outskirts?" Emil gave a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of his elbow

"I wish I could answer that for you. It would have to be something else you ask. Foren always thinks with the forest's safety in mind. She may require Emil to pass the test to be allowed to linger. Oh but, if you do pass it and the answer to the wish is a bust. You both will at least have a place to stay that's... Safer." she hesitated with the word safer. She wanted to say better, but she knew not to. "Plus we almost have a trade agreement set up with the elves and Emil can bake to his precious pure heart's desire. Oh! I do look forward to tasting some of his recipes" she fawned.

Emil gave a nervous smile, still conflicted. He did love the fae, they were always so nice and caring to his brother and he. Even the first time they came, they were so nice. Granted they learned later it was because the fae could sense evil in people's hearts, whatever that exactly implied. Though, Ratatosk had mentioned that the fae knew of their existence for quite some time and word had spread. These woods just happened to be one of the few that didn't mind their existence and were willing to be accepting of it, especially after learning that neither of them have ever taken on a Fae's appearance. Only Humans. Even so, Baking wasn't the only draw for Emil, he didn't want to become disconnected from humanity. Especially since the fae were so certain that they were human. Though, it seemed like they would have to give up the ghost and accept it if they couldn't confront the person, supposing it was a person..

"What… what if it isn't a per-person? What if the Astra Fairies are wrong…? Would… the wish mean nothing?" Emil wrung his hands together.

Efoile gave Emil a slight unhappy look. Not outright sad, but restrained. "Well dear. That's how the Astra operate. They are usually very sure of themselves. Almost too sure of themselves. I'm sure if Foren is made aware she'll insist upon the ability to allow you both to wish your actual wishes, however…" She trailed off. "I'm not sure she would want you two having access to the cloak before it's gifted."

"So either take the risk by asking, or keep our mouths shut and obey the fairies." Ratatosk glared at the floor not liking those prospects.

"Well… Yes. That's exactly it." She bit her lip slightly. "How about we get you boys to bed, Emil's practically falling asleep on himself." She gave a smile at the blonde who was indeed slightly looking very lulled.

Ratatosk nodded, getting up and putting the mug onto the table. "Same rooms?" Ratatosk asked.

"Yes of course. I kept them just the same," she affirmed for Ratatosk. Emil slightly stirred to moving but was obviously very drained, Ratatosk opting to pick him up and carrying him to bed. Emil gave a slight noise of protest before clinging koala style to his brother. Efoile giggling slightly. She looked to Butterscotch who had long since jumped off of Ratatosk's shoulders and sat there obediently by the door after Ratatosk walked out of the room with Emil in tow. "He cares so much for his brother, it'll be heartbreaking if they don't reach their own happy ending." She sighed.

"Meeeeow." the cat meowed at her in response.

"Yes, I do agree Butterscotch. Ratatosk's determination is a force to be reckoned with."

Emil clung to his brother, felt every planting of a foot, every movement that his brother made to carry them both through the small round living room and up a set of circling stairs that followed the layout of the round living room till it made its way up to an attic where two beds sat. True to her word, she kept them the same from long ago when the brother's once stayed there as their cabin was being built. Ratatosk shifted and put Emil down on the one bed, decorated in greens and yellows. Really, Efoile had such a funny sense of humor, considering his bed was Red and purples. It didn't take long for them to get settled before falling asleep.


End file.
